Young Wesley was sent to Eton, afterwards to the Military College of Angers. Whatever proficiency he may have made in military studies, in classical and literary attainments no pretensions to progress have ever been set up for him. The natural bent of his genius was in the direction of the former pursuits. He entered the army at the age of eighteen, and the Irish House of Commons before he was twenty-two. In 1790, being then a Captain in the army, he was returned for the borough of Trim. The 10th of January, 1793, the Hon. Mr. Wesley made his maiden speech, seconding a motion for an address to His Majesty, returning most cordial thanks for the royal message, recommending, amongst other matters for consideration, the situation of His Majesty's Catholic subjects to the serious attention of the Irish Parliament. Mr. Wesley said:—“At a time when opinions were spreading throughout Europe, inimical to Government, it behoved us, in a particular manner, to lay before our gracious Sovereign our determination to support and maintain the constitution: he took notice that, under the present reign, this country had risen to a state of unexampled prosperity. He said that the augmentation of the forces, as mentioned in the speech, had, from the circumstances of the times, become necessary. He reprobated, in very severe terms, the conduct of the French towards their King, and their invasion of the territories of sovereign princes, and their irruption into the Dangan Castle, county Meath, on the 1st of May, 1769; and in Dublin it was a generally received opinion that his Grace was born in a house that formerly stood on the site of the late Royal Irish Academy House, in Grafton Street. The fact of the birth of the late Duke of Wellington, at No. 24, Upper Merrion Street, has been clearly established, in a pamphlet on the subject, by John Murray, Esq., A.M., LL.D., published in 1852. Austrian Netherlands. He applauded the conduct of the administration of this country, for issuing the proclamation of the 8th of November, and he condemned the attempt of a set of men, styling themselves National Guards, and appearing in military array; a set of men unknown in the country, except by their attempts to overthrow the Government; the conduct of the administration, on that occasion, entitled them to the confidence of the people. In regard to what had been recommended in the speech from the throne, respecting our Catholic fellow-subjects, he could not repress expressing his approbation on that head; he had no doubt of the loyalty of the Catholics of this country, and he trusted that when the question would be brought forward, respecting that description of men, that we would lay aside all animosities, and act with moderation and dignity, and not with the fury and violence of partizans.” Between the first effort in the Irish Parliament, in favour of the Catholic claims in 1793, and the final successful one in the British House of Commons in 1829, a great military career was accomplished, and a vast renown achieved.t * Irish Parliamentary Debates, p. 5, 1793. # In 1787, he had received his first commission of Ensign. In the list of promotions, 1792, we read—“Homble. Arthur Wesley, from 58th Regiment of Foot, to be Captain, vice Crofton, in the 13th Regiment of Dragoons.” After various promotions, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 33rd Foot in 1793. He served on the Continent, at the head of a brigade, in the Low Countries, and at Malines in 1794, and in 1797 joined his regiment in India. After triumphant campaigns in the Mysore, the Nizam's territories, those of the Mahratta chiefs in the Deccan, Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley resigned his command, and returned to England in March, 1805, He married Lady Catherine Pakenham, third daughter of the Earl of Longford, in 1806; accepted the office of Chief Secretary for Ireland, with special privileges, in April, 1809, the Duke of Richmond being then Lord Lieutenant. Was second in command under Lord From 1817, the Duke's services, being no longer needed in the field, were called into activity in conferences and congresses with the statesmen and sovereigns of foreign powers. In 1818, he and Lord Castlereagh attended the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. As plenipotentiary from the British Government, the Duke assisted at the congress of Verona in 1822. He was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance in 1819. He succeeded the Duke of York, as Commander in Chief, in 1826. Cathcart, in the expedition to Copenhagen, still retaining the office of Secretary of Ireland, in the summer of 1807. Landed in Corunna, with the rank of Lieut.-General, and the title of Sir Arthur Wellesley, 20th July, 1808. After the Treaty of Cintra, at the end of this campaign, returned to England in disgust, in the latter part of 1808. Resumed the duties of Chief Secretary for Ireland, and his seat in Parliament, January, 1809. After Sir John Moore's defeat, was appointed to the chief command of the army for the defence of Portugal, resigned his Irish office, and arrived in the Tagus in April, 1809, in which year he was created Baron Douro of Wellesley, and Viscount Wellington. Having driven the French out of Portugal, gained victory after victory, and well-deserved honours and rewards, he entered Madrid with something like regal triumph in July, 1812, in which year he was created Earl of Wellington, and a few months later, Marquess of Douro, Duke of Wellington. The decisive hattle of Vittoria was fought the 20th of June, 1813. A brief and brilliant campaign ended in expulsion of the French army, 120,000 men, from Spain, in October, 1813. The British army, under the Duke of Wellington, bivouacked triumphantly on the soil of France, in November, 1813. At the dissolution of Napoleon's empire, the Duke was dispatched to Paris, and appeared at the Tuilleries as British ambassador, in the early part of 1814. Six months later, he represented his country in the great congress of the Continental Allied Sovereigns. On Napoleon's escape from Elba, in 1815, the command of the English army destined for the invasion of France was given to him. The crowning victory of the great Duke was gained at Waterloo, in June, 1815. Foreign honours and distinctions innumerable,—a Principality—a Field-Marshal's baton—liberal grants and unparalleled popularity and pre-eminence at home—marked the general sense of his great services. Being accused of having sought the office of Premier, when held by Mr. Canning, he declared, in his place in the House of Lords, in 1827, he was "sensible of being unqualified for such a situation," and that he " should have been mad to think of it." Eight months later, he was Prime Minister of England. At the opening of the Session, the policy of the Duke's Government, in favour of Catholic Emancipation, was announced from the throne, 5th February, 1829. The Relief Bill passed both Houses, and received the royal assent, within two months of that period. The declaration against Parliamentary Reform was made at the commencement of the session, November, 1829. The downfall of the old Toryism for ever, and of the Wellington party for ten years, dated from 1830. The 7th of June, 1832, the royal assent was given to the Reform Bill, and on the 18th of the same month the Duke of Wellington was assaulted by the populace in Fenchurch Street, and nearly dismounted; and for the first time in his life, turned his back on assailants. On the fall of the Whigs, he resumed his place in the Cabinet, without special office of any kind, in 1841. On the accession of the Whigs to power, the command of the army again reverted to him on the death of General Lord Hill. He gave no factious opposition to any government, except to that of Mr. Canning. He said that "he knew the Queen's government must be carried on," so he assisted the Whigs when he thought they deserved support; and whenever the Court was in any difficulty, the Duke was invariably sent for, and was relied on to the last for sure counsel in all dilemmas. September the 14th, 1852, the greatest General of his age terminated his career of glory, aged eighty-three years. Wellington's best fame rests on the confidence in his plain Vol. in. c dealing, and direct, straight-forward views of public duty, and of obligation to truth and fairness, with which he had the ability to inspire men of all grades, and in all circumstances, throughout the whole of his career in private and in public, and alike in a military and a civil capacity. LETTERS FROM THE LATE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO LADY BLESSINGTON. "London, March 3. "My Dear Lady Blessington, "Notwithstanding the circumstances which I mentioned to your Ladyship yesterday, and that I, in fact, have no personal knowledge of your brother, which always renders it difficult to recommend to another, the person, in respect to whom one labours under this disadvantage; I have at your desire, written the enclosed letter to Sir Hudson Lowe, which I hope will answer the purpose of drawing his attention to him. "Ever your Ladyship's "Most faithful servant, "Wellington." "London, Feb. 6, 1830. "I am going out of town myself to-morrow morning; but I have desired my servant to attend you with this note; and the only drawing that I have of Lady D , which has not been engraved. "Ever yours, most faithfully, "Wellington." "London, Dec. 15, 1837. "I enclose a letter for Sir John Hervey. I am afraid that it will not be of much use to Captain P , as I am not much acquainted with Sir John Hervey. "Yours, most sincerely, "Wellington." |